1. Field of the Invention
The invention pertains to a training bat, formed of a moldable material, such as rubber, and reinforced by steel inserts. The bat is used for practice swings, while a batter is “loosening up” for a baseball or softball game.
2. Description of the Related Art
Baseball or softball players loosen up, or warm up, in the on-deck circle, by taking practice swings with a bat. A weighted collar, or doughnut, is slipped over the bat prior to swinging same. The weighted collar can slip off the bat when the bat is swung vigorously, thus creating a potential safety hazard. Also, there is usually no flexibility in the bat, so that the extra weight may lead to injury of the muscles, tendons, or ligaments of the player swinging the rigid bat.
An alternative practice bat is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,763,899, granted to W. Maynard Hundley. The alternative bat is formed from a moldable plastic resin with an integrally molded weight, preferably of lead, at an outer portion, and a stiffening device, such as aluminum tubing, at an inner end. The bat resembles a standard wooden bat in shape. The bat is, however, characterized by a flexible intermediate portion typically formed of a standard steel cable. The intermediate portion has sufficient resiliency to bend, and discharge substantial amounts of inertial energy at the end of a swing, thus preventing injury to the user. Bats of this type were sold under the mark, WHIP-O warm-up bat, by the Mayco Company of Grand Rapids, Mich.
Numerous other practice bats have been devised. To illustrate, U.S. Pat. No. 4,555,111, granted Nov. 26, 1985 to Manuel R. Alvarez, discloses a practice bat for baseball players including a handle portion (12) and a weighted end portion (16) interconnected by a resilient spring (14). The weighted end portion is remote from the hands of the player holding the handle portion, as shown in FIGS. 1A-1C. Consequently, when the bat is swung, the momentum of the weighted end portion will cause it to lag behind, as shown in FIG. 3, and than move ahead, of a longitudinal, at rest axis, of the handle portion, thereby causing the player's wrists to break or bend.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,399,242, granted Jul. 15, 2007 to Douglas Smith, discloses a weighted training bat (10) formed of wood having a handle (14) and a barrel (12). The barrel has an elongated hollow cavity (28) formed into a distal end thereof, and an outer portion cavity portion having internal threads (22). Lead (26) fills the proximal portion of the cavity. When solidified, the lead adheres to the interior surface of the cavity to resist loosening the lead adding weight and located astride the “sweet spot (36)” of the bat. An elongated wooded screw (20), having external threads, is tightly engaged into internal threads in the cavity so the screw bears against the lead to prevent further loosening of the lead.
However, most of the known training bats were relatively complicated to manufacture and assemble, and thus were costly to purchase. Also, many of the known training bats were made with a wooden body with a longitudinal bore that weakened the structural integrity of the bat, and caused breakage or fracture. Many of the known training bats employed a lead slug located at the free end of the bat, with attendant increases in cost.